diff --git a/include/psyc/parser.h b/include/psyc/parser.h
index b28d064..a9bf74f 100644
--- a/include/psyc/parser.h
+++ b/include/psyc/parser.h
@@ -184,7 +184,8 @@ void psyc_setParseBuffer (psycParseState *state, psycString buffer)
 static inline
 void psyc_setParseBuffer2 (psycParseState *state, char *buffer, size_t length)
 {
-	psyc_setParseBuffer(state, psyc_newString(buffer, length));
+	psycString buf = {length, buffer};
+	psyc_setParseBuffer(state, buf);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -211,7 +212,8 @@ void psyc_setParseListBuffer (psycParseListState *state, psycString buffer)
 static inline
 void psyc_setParseListBuffer2 (psycParseListState *state, char *buffer, size_t length)
 {
-	psyc_setParseListBuffer(state, psyc_newString(buffer, length));
+	psycString buf = {length, buffer};
+	psyc_setParseListBuffer(state, buf);
 }
 
 static inline
diff --git a/include/psyc/text.h b/include/psyc/text.h
index 8f3b1f0..3f4746f 100644
--- a/include/psyc/text.h
+++ b/include/psyc/text.h
@@ -78,11 +78,12 @@ void psyc_initTextState (psycTextState *state,
                          char *template, size_t tlen,
                          char *buffer, size_t blen)
 {
-	state->cursor = state->written = 0;
-	state->template = psyc_newString(template, tlen);
-	state->buffer = psyc_newString(buffer, blen);
-	state->open = psyc_newString("[", 1);
-	state->close = psyc_newString("]", 1);
+	state->cursor = 0;
+	state->written = 0;
+	state->template = {tlen, template};
+	state->buffer = {blen, buffer};
+	state->open = {1, "["};
+	state->close = {1, "]"};
 }
 
 /**
@@ -105,10 +106,10 @@ void psyc_initTextState2 (psycTextState *state,
                           char *open, size_t openlen,
                           char *close, size_t closelen)
 {
-	state->template = psyc_newString(template, tlen);
-	state->buffer = psyc_newString(buffer, blen);
-	state->open = psyc_newString(open, openlen);
-	state->close = psyc_newString(close, closelen);
+	state->template = {tlen, template};
+	state->buffer = {blen, buffer};
+	state->open = {openlen, open};
+	state->close = {closelen, close};
 }
 
 /**
@@ -128,7 +129,8 @@ static inline
 void psyc_setTextBuffer2 (psycTextState *state,
                           char *buffer, size_t length)
 {
-	psyc_setTextBuffer(state, psyc_newString(buffer, length));
+	psycString buf = {length, buffer};
+	psyc_setTextBuffer(state, buf);
 }
 
 static inline
diff --git a/test/testParser.c b/test/testParser.c
index 38a1d46..8634bcb 100644
--- a/test/testParser.c
+++ b/test/testParser.c
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 	else
 		psyc_initParseState(&state);
 
-	psyc_setParseBuffer(&state, psyc_newString(buffer, idx));
+	psyc_setParseBuffer2(&state, buffer, idx);
 
 	// try parsing that now
 	do
diff --git a/test/testServer.c b/test/testServer.c
index 182377d..95a8caa 100644
--- a/test/testServer.c
+++ b/test/testServer.c
@@ -234,7 +234,7 @@ int main (int argc, char **argv)
 					{
 						// we got some data from a client
 						parsebuf = recvbuf - contbytes;
-						psyc_setParseBuffer(&parsers[i], psyc_newString(parsebuf, contbytes + nbytes));
+						psyc_setParseBuffer2(&parsers[i], parsebuf, contbytes + nbytes);
 						contbytes = 0;
 						oper = 0;
 						name.length = 0;